In a crowded field, Richard Keys’ claim that he’s been “the only voice in the media that has consistently spoken on this subject” about Manchester City‘s 115 charges might well be the most preposterous thing he’s ever said.

Keys is apparently forgetting the dozens of intrepid journalists who have been on this case for a long, long time.

The 69-year-old former Sky Sports presenter might also want to remember that he’s spent the past decade shouting from the sidelines in Doha, while actual reporters were asking the difficult questions and taking pelters for keeping City’s charges in the spotlight.

Hats off to the likes of Nick Harris, Kieran Maguire, Miguel Delaney, Rob Harris, David Conn and Matt Slater – to name but a few – not to mention David Ornstein for breaking the story of their impending guilty verdict with one of the scoops of the year.

This whole saga might not be taking place were it not for the work of whistleblower Rui Pinto and everything he exposed on Football Leaks back in 2018.

But no, Keysey, you’re right. Forget the actual journalists doing the legwork — your blog was clearly the essential destination for anyone seeking proper hard-hitting reporting and the real truth about Manchester City.

And, naturally, the fact that your former employers were the state-owned Qatari network beIN Sports had absolutely no relevance to your particular axe-grinding over City’s Abu Dhabi owners.

Had Keys still been front and centre on mainstream British television, presenting Sky Sports’ flagship coverage, rather than a disgraced peripheral figure yelling into the ether, he might have had the tiniest sliver of a point.

(As an aside, Keys’ ‘Spunk Bubble’ comeback to Liam Gallagher was genuinely funny stuff, credit where it’s due)

The 115 charges have hardly been a staple of mainstream football coverage. If your usual sources were Sky Sports, televised match coverage and podcasts built around ex-pros, you could easily have followed football for years while hearing precious little serious discussion of the case.

…With the notable exception of one figure.

No, not Keysey. Ian Wright has been talking about it for years, to his immense credit. His willingness to do so always felt slightly jarring within the context of mainstream coverage, almost as though he’d wandered off-script and started discussing that left behind-the-scenes producers tearing their hair out.

Wrighty, NOOOO, think of The Product™!

Ian Wright on the 115 charges 2 and a half years ago 🤌 pic.twitter.com/0c6AHHotCU

— Kafaji Comps (@KafajiComps) September 25, 2026

“You look at the trophy haul and you have to say that Pep’s done very well. But then you look at what Klopp’s done to try to catch Manchester City, the way he’s built that team, how long it’s taken them to get there,” Wright said on an appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

“You have to say, it might be easier for Pep in what he’s done, but Klopp’s still got to get a lot of love. It’s there for everyone to see in respect of trophies but we can’t speak about City without speaking about the fact there’s 115 charges around them.

“The one thing I would like more than anything else is for that to be gone so you can give the team and the manager the love they deserve. You speak about them and it’s like there’s an elephant in the room.”

That was March 2024. Over two and a half years ago.

Of course, you can’t ignore the legal backdrop. While the case was unresolved, media coverage has had to be careful about what was stated as fact, what was alleged and what might have amounted to an inference of guilt.

There was an obvious need for caution while the legal process was ongoing, and that inevitably made coverage a bit awkward. What is harder to excuse is how that caution so often became silence.

The 115 charges didn’t need to be presented as proof of wrongdoing to be acknowledged as a hugely significant part of the context surrounding everything Manchester City were achieving.

But Wright’s comments on Monday Night Football were no outlier. He almost always caveated any discussion of Manchester City with what was going on in the background.

“You’ve got to remember we’re (Arsenal are) chasing down a City side and we’re still talking about charges with them,” he said during an appearance on The Overlap’s Stick To Football podcast late last season.

“How have they got to this? How have they got to that? There’s still no outcome. We still don’t know an outcome and that’s the team we’re chasing down.”

That willingness to go there was precisely what set Wright apart from most of his fellow pundits, who often seemed distinctly uncomfortable even acknowledging the subject.

“Really?” the former Arsenal striker responded when Gary Neville suggested that City might get off with the charges.

“Every single charge and we’re going to say ‘I can’t believe that happened but let’s get on with it’? It’s not like five or six.

“It’s 115! I feel like everybody is like Donald Trump here, nobody is listening. You’re saying stuff and it’s foolishness!”

Wright never claimed to know what the verdict would be, but he always believed 115 charges hanging over the most dominant team of the era warranted a mention.

With City now found guilty by an independent commission, his insistence on banging that drum looks entirely justified. He deserves his flowers.

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